Max Lucado Daily: He Knocks Gently
He Knocks Gently
Posted: 22 Nov 2010 10:01 PM PST
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. Revelation 3:20, NASB
Jesus always knocks before entering.
He doesn’t have to. He owns your heart.
If anyone has the right to barge in, Christ does.
But he doesn’t
That gentle tap you hear? It’s Christ.
Genesis 27
1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.”
“Here I am,” he answered.
2 Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. 3 Now then, get your equipment—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. 4 Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.”
5 Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, 7 ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the LORD before I die.’ 8 Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: 9 Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. 10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.”
11 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man while I have smooth skin. 12 What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.”
13 His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.”
14 So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. 15 Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16 She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. 17 Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.
18 He went to his father and said, “My father.”
“Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?”
19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”
20 Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?”
“The LORD your God gave me success,” he replied.
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.”
22 Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him. 24 “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked.
“I am,” he replied.
25 Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.”
Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.”
27 So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said,
“Ah, the smell of my son
is like the smell of a field
that the LORD has blessed.
28 May God give you heaven’s dew
and earth’s richness—
an abundance of grain and new wine.
29 May nations serve you
and peoples bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers,
and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.
May those who curse you be cursed
and those who bless you be blessed.”
30 After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. 31 He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”
32 His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?”
“I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.”
33 Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!”
34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me—me too, my father!”
35 But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”
36 Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? This is the second time he has taken advantage of me: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”
37 Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?”
38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.
39 His father Isaac answered him,
“Your dwelling will be
away from the earth’s richness,
away from the dew of heaven above.
40 You will live by the sword
and you will serve your brother.
But when you grow restless,
you will throw his yoke
from off your neck.”
41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
42 When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you. 43 Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Harran. 44 Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides. 45 When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I’ll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”
46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Ephesians 2:11-22
Ephesians 2:11-22 (NIV)Eph 11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)-- 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. 19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Unlimited Access
November 23, 2010 — by Cindy Hess Kasper
Through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. —Ephesians 2:18
Last November, news sources said that a shocking breach of security occurred when a couple brazenly walked into a White House state dinner—even getting close enough to have their picture taken with the President of the United States. Usually, extensive background checks and careful scrutiny of the guest list screens out the uninvited.
It’s a rare day for any of us that our access is not restricted in some way. Signs warn us: Employees Only, Do Not Enter, Authorized Vehicles Only, No Trespassing. None of us want to be told that we are not welcome. But the fact is that there will always be some places from which we will be barred. It makes me grateful that God sets no restriction on who may come to Him.
Those who come to God encounter no “Keep Out” signs. Through prayer, God the Father allows us immediate and unlimited access to Him because His Son Jesus Christ has opened the way to all who receive Him (Eph. 2:18). “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden” (Matt. 11:28). “The one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out” (John 6:37). “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (7:37).
Once you come to Christ for salvation, you can enjoy unrestricted fellowship. The door is always open.
Our prayers ascend to heaven’s throne
Regardless of the form we use;
Our Father always hears His own
Regardless of the words we choose. —D. De Haan
God’s throne is always accessible to His children.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 23rd, 2010
The Distraction of Contempt
Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt —Psalm 123:3
What we must beware of is not damage to our belief in God but damage to our Christian disposition or state of mind. “Take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously” (Malachi 2:16). Our state of mind is powerful in its effects. It can be the enemy that penetrates right into our soul and distracts our mind from God. There are certain attitudes we should never dare to indulge. If we do, we will find they have distracted us from faith in God. Until we get back into a quiet mood before Him, our faith is of no value, and our confidence in the flesh and in human ingenuity is what rules our lives.
Beware of “the cares of this world . . .” (Mark 4:19). They are the very things that produce the wrong attitudes in our soul. It is incredible what enormous power there is in simple things to distract our attention away from God. Refuse to be swamped by “the cares of this world.”
Another thing that distracts us is our passion for vindication. St. Augustine prayed, “O Lord, deliver me from this lust of always vindicating myself.” Such a need for constant vindication destroys our soul’s faith in God. Don’t say, “I must explain myself,” or, “I must get people to understand.” Our Lord never explained anything— He left the misunderstandings or misconceptions of others to correct themselves.
When we discern that other people are not growing spiritually and allow that discernment to turn to criticism, we block our fellowship with God. God never gives us discernment so that we may criticize, but that we may intercede.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Pebbles In Your Shoes - #6227
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
In ongoing attempts to establish more regular exercise in our lives, my wife and I moved into this walking kick at one time, and we should get back into it now, I guess. Actually, my wife took the research approach, including reading books on walking, which I wasn't sure was necessary since I've been walking since I was about a year old. One of those books was by a man who literally walked across America. I was hoping that was not one of my wife's goals for our exercise program. Well, I was intrigued by an observation made by this super-walker. When someone asked him what the greatest obstacle was in his long hike across the country, he gave a pretty surprising answer. He said, "The little pebbles I got in my shoes."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Pebbles In Your Shoes."
It's interesting that the Bible actually describes our life-journey with Jesus as a walk. And some of us share with that man who hiked America the same obstacle in getting to our destination.
In Song of Solomon 2:15 , our word for today from the Word of God, we find an intriguing insight about our life journey. It says, "Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom." It's the little foxes that ruin things; that spoil what could have been a good result. If it's a big fox, it's easy to shoot it. But it's harder to fight the little foxes that just nibble away. Sounds like an animal kingdom equivalent of a hiker's "little pebbles in your shoes."
And we all experience the aggravation of those little pebbles; the car trouble, the sick child, an inconvenient illness, the appliance on the blink, the banking problems, the office politics, those little injustices, or the unexpected expense. The peace of God is one of a child of God's greatest gifts, but often these little stresses do more to rob us of that peace than the big crises.
When a major crisis comes, we tend to run to God for His grace. We know we can't fight a giant by ourselves. But When a major crisis comes, we tend to run to God for His grace. We know we can't fight a giant by ourselves.
So we lose, not to huge temptations or overwhelming problems, but to flat tires and the flu, to bills and bad traffic. Not because they're so big, but because we don't think to go to Jesus about them. I am so glad that Jesus is a sparrow-counting, hair-counting, daily bread kind of Savior, aren't you? But I need to go to Him with the small frustrations! We could live much more victoriously if we would immediately go to Jesus for the grace He's promised us in the mini-messes - not just the big ones.
Why let those "little foxes" create a negative, angry, stressed-out you? Turn them over to your Lord who told us He cares about those things. In 1 Peter 5:7 it says, "Casting all your care on Him because He cares for you." You'll walk much longer; you'll walk much lighter if your God is the God of the little pebbles - not just the big boulders.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Matthew 18, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: Just Believe
Just Believe
Posted: 21 Nov 2010 10:01 PM PST
The work God wants you to do is this: Believe the One he sent.” John 6:29
“What are the things God wants us to do?” (John 6:28).... What is the work he wants us to do? Pray more? Give more? Study? Travel?...
What is the work he seeks? Just believe. Believe the One he sent.
Matthew 18
The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven
1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
Causing to Stumble
6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
The Parable of the Wandering Sheep
10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. [11] 12 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.
Dealing With Sin in the Church
15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Romans 8:18-30
Romans 8:18-30 (NIV)Ro 18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. 26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Storm Clouds And Blue Sky
November 22, 2010 — by Anne Cetas
Our light affliction . . . is but for a moment. —2 Corinthians 4:17
I was feeling down about some circumstances the other day and wondering how I might lift my spirits. I pulled from my shelf the book Life Is Like Licking Honey Off a Thorn by Susan Lenzkes, and I read this: “We take the laughter and the tears however they come, and let our God of reality make sense of it all.”
Lenzkes says some people are optimists who “camp in pleasures and good memories,” denying the brokenness. Others are pessimists who “focus on life’s losses, losing joy and victory in the process.” But people of faith are realists who “receive it all—all the good and bad of life—and repeatedly choose to know that God really loves us and is constantly at work for our good and His glory.”
As I read, I looked outside and noticed dark clouds and a steady rain. A little later, a friendly wind came up and blew the clouds away. Suddenly the skies were bright blue. The storms of life blow in and out like that.
By faith we cling to God’s promise of Romans 8:28. And we recall that “our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17). God loves us, and He’s getting us ready for the day when skies will be forever blue.
The purposes of God are right,
Although we may not see
Just how He works all things for good
And transforms tragedy. —Sper
God promises a safe landing— but not necessarily a calm passage.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 22th, 2010
Shallow and Profound
Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God —1 Corinthians 10:31
Beware of allowing yourself to think that the shallow aspects of life are not ordained by God; they are ordained by Him equally as much as the profound. We sometimes refuse to be shallow, not out of our deep devotion to God but because we wish to impress other people with the fact that we are not shallow. This is a sure sign of spiritual pride. We must be careful, for this is how contempt for others is produced in our lives. And it causes us to be a walking rebuke to other people because they are more shallow than we are. Beware of posing as a profound person— God became a baby.
To be shallow is not a sign of being sinful, nor is shallowness an indication that there is no depth to your life at all— the ocean has a shore. Even the shallow things of life, such as eating and drinking, walking and talking, are ordained by God. These are all things our Lord did. He did them as the Son of God, and He said, “A disciple is not above his teacher . . .” (Matthew 10:24).
We are safeguarded by the shallow things of life. We have to live the surface, commonsense life in a commonsense way. Then when God gives us the deeper things, they are obviously separated from the shallow concerns. Never show the depth of your life to anyone but God. We are so nauseatingly serious, so desperately interested in our own character and reputation, we refuse to behave like Christians in the shallow concerns of life.
Make a determination to take no one seriously except God. You may find that the first person you must be the most critical with, as being the greatest fraud you have ever known, is yourself.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
A Bigger God Than Ever - #6226
Monday, November 22, 2010
Don't you sometimes wish you could see the world as little kids see it at least for a little while? It's so refreshing to hear their perspectives on things, expressed simply - and usually expressed very directly. I was blessed recently by an observation made by a three-year-old granddaughter. A friend asked her, "What's your granddad up to these days?" To which she simply replied: "Oh, he's getting taller." I am? I'd like to think she's right. I think I'll go measure.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Bigger God Than Ever."
I actually wish my granddaughter was right. Unfortunately, I am, in spite of whatever she meant by that wonderful observation, just as vertically challenged as I've ever been. But her comment brought to mind a memorable conversation from C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. Narnia is a magical land where the animals talk and where a majestic lion named Aslan in the ultimate king. Those stories offer some powerful analogies of our experience with Jesus, the One the Bible calls "the Lion of the Tribe of Judah."
In one story, Lucy, one of the children, has not seen Aslan for a long time. When she does, there's a very tender reunion. And Lucy asks, "Aslan, have you gotten bigger?" To which Aslan replies, "Oh, no my child, you have. And the more you grow, the bigger I will seem." That's exactly how God intends for it to be as we grow in our relationship with Him. Our God seems to get bigger and bigger as we grow. My granddaughter may think I'm getting taller. I'm not. And God, of course, doesn't get bigger, but He wants us to see more and more how big He really is. The bigger your God is the bigger things you will believe Him for; the bigger your life can be. We have, for too long, allowed our problems and our pain to loom so large that they have obscured the greatness of our God who is so much bigger than the things that are bigger than we are. They're like my thumb blocking the view of the sun; the small thing blocking my view of something massive.
In fact, God plans our life-journey in such a way that we will see more and more of what an awesome God He is. He sends or allows things in our life that cause us to need Him more than ever, so we'll reach for Him more than ever; so we'll see Him as never before. Let's look at a memorable example in Exodus 14 , beginning with verse 13. It's our word for today from the Word of God. God's people have the Red Sea in front of them and the mightiest army on earth behind them. God announces, "I will gain glory for Myself through Pharaoh and all his army." Facing one of history's greatest "Mission Impossible" moments, Moses tells the people: "Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Lord will fight for you...the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord." God parted the waters, His people walked through on dry land, and waters came together then and drowned the entire Egyptian army.
And the Bible says, "Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: 'The Lord is highly exalted...the Lord is my strength and my song...the Lord is a warrior; the Lord is His name...Who among the gods is like You, O Lord?...majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders." How did they discover the majesty of the God they belonged to? Through something so big, so overwhelming, that only God could do it. How will you discover what an awesome God you have? The same way.
And that may explain some of the "why" of what you're facing right now. It's God's plan to grow your view of Him through challenges that are bigger than your resources but not bigger than His. He may be putting you through something that is stretching your faith in Him far beyond anything you've ever trusted Him for, but it's all part of the plan to give you a front row seat on the greatness of your God, to blow the lid off your relationship with Him, and to teach you the unshakeable peace of being able to say, "God's God and I'm not."
You haven't even begun to see the glory and power of the God you belong to. You need some very big mountains to see what a very big God you have. So don't frustrate over the challenge you're facing. Celebrate it as your ticket to that front row seat on the glory of God. Because the more you grow, the bigger He will be.
Just Believe
Posted: 21 Nov 2010 10:01 PM PST
The work God wants you to do is this: Believe the One he sent.” John 6:29
“What are the things God wants us to do?” (John 6:28).... What is the work he wants us to do? Pray more? Give more? Study? Travel?...
What is the work he seeks? Just believe. Believe the One he sent.
Matthew 18
The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven
1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
Causing to Stumble
6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
The Parable of the Wandering Sheep
10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. [11] 12 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.
Dealing With Sin in the Church
15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Romans 8:18-30
Romans 8:18-30 (NIV)Ro 18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. 26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Storm Clouds And Blue Sky
November 22, 2010 — by Anne Cetas
Our light affliction . . . is but for a moment. —2 Corinthians 4:17
I was feeling down about some circumstances the other day and wondering how I might lift my spirits. I pulled from my shelf the book Life Is Like Licking Honey Off a Thorn by Susan Lenzkes, and I read this: “We take the laughter and the tears however they come, and let our God of reality make sense of it all.”
Lenzkes says some people are optimists who “camp in pleasures and good memories,” denying the brokenness. Others are pessimists who “focus on life’s losses, losing joy and victory in the process.” But people of faith are realists who “receive it all—all the good and bad of life—and repeatedly choose to know that God really loves us and is constantly at work for our good and His glory.”
As I read, I looked outside and noticed dark clouds and a steady rain. A little later, a friendly wind came up and blew the clouds away. Suddenly the skies were bright blue. The storms of life blow in and out like that.
By faith we cling to God’s promise of Romans 8:28. And we recall that “our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17). God loves us, and He’s getting us ready for the day when skies will be forever blue.
The purposes of God are right,
Although we may not see
Just how He works all things for good
And transforms tragedy. —Sper
God promises a safe landing— but not necessarily a calm passage.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 22th, 2010
Shallow and Profound
Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God —1 Corinthians 10:31
Beware of allowing yourself to think that the shallow aspects of life are not ordained by God; they are ordained by Him equally as much as the profound. We sometimes refuse to be shallow, not out of our deep devotion to God but because we wish to impress other people with the fact that we are not shallow. This is a sure sign of spiritual pride. We must be careful, for this is how contempt for others is produced in our lives. And it causes us to be a walking rebuke to other people because they are more shallow than we are. Beware of posing as a profound person— God became a baby.
To be shallow is not a sign of being sinful, nor is shallowness an indication that there is no depth to your life at all— the ocean has a shore. Even the shallow things of life, such as eating and drinking, walking and talking, are ordained by God. These are all things our Lord did. He did them as the Son of God, and He said, “A disciple is not above his teacher . . .” (Matthew 10:24).
We are safeguarded by the shallow things of life. We have to live the surface, commonsense life in a commonsense way. Then when God gives us the deeper things, they are obviously separated from the shallow concerns. Never show the depth of your life to anyone but God. We are so nauseatingly serious, so desperately interested in our own character and reputation, we refuse to behave like Christians in the shallow concerns of life.
Make a determination to take no one seriously except God. You may find that the first person you must be the most critical with, as being the greatest fraud you have ever known, is yourself.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
A Bigger God Than Ever - #6226
Monday, November 22, 2010
Don't you sometimes wish you could see the world as little kids see it at least for a little while? It's so refreshing to hear their perspectives on things, expressed simply - and usually expressed very directly. I was blessed recently by an observation made by a three-year-old granddaughter. A friend asked her, "What's your granddad up to these days?" To which she simply replied: "Oh, he's getting taller." I am? I'd like to think she's right. I think I'll go measure.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Bigger God Than Ever."
I actually wish my granddaughter was right. Unfortunately, I am, in spite of whatever she meant by that wonderful observation, just as vertically challenged as I've ever been. But her comment brought to mind a memorable conversation from C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. Narnia is a magical land where the animals talk and where a majestic lion named Aslan in the ultimate king. Those stories offer some powerful analogies of our experience with Jesus, the One the Bible calls "the Lion of the Tribe of Judah."
In one story, Lucy, one of the children, has not seen Aslan for a long time. When she does, there's a very tender reunion. And Lucy asks, "Aslan, have you gotten bigger?" To which Aslan replies, "Oh, no my child, you have. And the more you grow, the bigger I will seem." That's exactly how God intends for it to be as we grow in our relationship with Him. Our God seems to get bigger and bigger as we grow. My granddaughter may think I'm getting taller. I'm not. And God, of course, doesn't get bigger, but He wants us to see more and more how big He really is. The bigger your God is the bigger things you will believe Him for; the bigger your life can be. We have, for too long, allowed our problems and our pain to loom so large that they have obscured the greatness of our God who is so much bigger than the things that are bigger than we are. They're like my thumb blocking the view of the sun; the small thing blocking my view of something massive.
In fact, God plans our life-journey in such a way that we will see more and more of what an awesome God He is. He sends or allows things in our life that cause us to need Him more than ever, so we'll reach for Him more than ever; so we'll see Him as never before. Let's look at a memorable example in Exodus 14 , beginning with verse 13. It's our word for today from the Word of God. God's people have the Red Sea in front of them and the mightiest army on earth behind them. God announces, "I will gain glory for Myself through Pharaoh and all his army." Facing one of history's greatest "Mission Impossible" moments, Moses tells the people: "Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Lord will fight for you...the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord." God parted the waters, His people walked through on dry land, and waters came together then and drowned the entire Egyptian army.
And the Bible says, "Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: 'The Lord is highly exalted...the Lord is my strength and my song...the Lord is a warrior; the Lord is His name...Who among the gods is like You, O Lord?...majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders." How did they discover the majesty of the God they belonged to? Through something so big, so overwhelming, that only God could do it. How will you discover what an awesome God you have? The same way.
And that may explain some of the "why" of what you're facing right now. It's God's plan to grow your view of Him through challenges that are bigger than your resources but not bigger than His. He may be putting you through something that is stretching your faith in Him far beyond anything you've ever trusted Him for, but it's all part of the plan to give you a front row seat on the greatness of your God, to blow the lid off your relationship with Him, and to teach you the unshakeable peace of being able to say, "God's God and I'm not."
You haven't even begun to see the glory and power of the God you belong to. You need some very big mountains to see what a very big God you have. So don't frustrate over the challenge you're facing. Celebrate it as your ticket to that front row seat on the glory of God. Because the more you grow, the bigger He will be.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Genesis 26, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: Purpose in Everything
Purpose in Everything
Posted: 20 Nov 2010 10:01 PM PST
We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him. Romans 8:28
Everything? Everything. Chicken-hearted disciples. A two-timing Judas. A pierced side. Spineless Pharisees. A hardhearted high priest. In everything God worked. I dare you to find one element of the cross that he did not manage for good or recycle for symbolism. Give it a go. I think you’ll find what I found—-every dark detail was actually a golden moment in the cause of Christ.
Can’t he do the same for you?
Genesis 26
Isaac and Abimelek
1 Now there was a famine in the land—besides the previous famine in Abraham’s time—and Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines in Gerar. 2 The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. 3 Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. 4 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, 5 because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions.” 6 So Isaac stayed in Gerar.
7 When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.”
8 When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelek king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. 9 So Abimelek summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?”
Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.”
10 Then Abimelek said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”
11 So Abimelek gave orders to all the people: “Anyone who harms this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”
12 Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him. 13 The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. 14 He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. 15 So all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.
16 Then Abimelek said to Isaac, “Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us.”
17 So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar, where he settled. 18 Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them.
19 Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. 20 But the herders of Gerar quarreled with those of Isaac and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him. 21 Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. 22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, “Now the LORD has given us room and we will flourish in the land.”
23 From there he went up to Beersheba. 24 That night the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”
25 Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.
26 Meanwhile, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces. 27 Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?”
28 They answered, “We saw clearly that the LORD was with you; so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’—between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we did not harm you but always treated you well and sent you away peacefully. And now you are blessed by the LORD.”
30 Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. 31 Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they went away peacefully.
32 That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!” 33 He called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba.
Jacob Takes Esau’s Blessing
34 When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 8:1-2
1 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
Out Of The Mouth Of Babes
November 21, 2010 — by David H. Roper
Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength. —Psalm 8:2
Psalm 8 begins with a startling contrast. David seems to suggest that while God has revealed His glory in the skies, another persuasive answer to His critics comes in the utterances of a child: “Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, because of Your enemies, that You may silence the enemy and the avenger” (v.2).
Why is a child’s praise so persuasive? For one thing, it’s because, unlike the impersonal universe, a child can know and love God.
Jesus quoted Psalm 8:2 when religious leaders were scandalized that children were running around in the temple shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” (Matt. 21:15-16). These little ones knew—as those leaders did not know—that Jesus was the long-awaited Son of God.
Some of my most memorable moments as a parent came when I knelt beside our children’s beds at night, and they opened their hearts to God. The simplicity of their love and trust as they prayed touched me deeply, dispelled my doubts and fears, and drew me to faith.
We must never take lightly little ones who believe in Christ (Matt. 18:6,10). Their witness is great, as is the witness in the skies.
Could it be that the trusting child—
Who with childlike faith stands strong—
Can teach us more than sun and stars
About to whom our hearts belong? —Branon
Children are God’s precious jewels— help them shine for Christ.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 21th, 2010
"It is Finished!"
I have finished the work which You have given Me to do —John 17:4
The death of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment in history of the very mind and intent of God. There is no place for seeing Jesus Christ as a martyr. His death was not something that happened to Him— something that might have been prevented. His death was the very reason He came.
Never build your case for forgiveness on the idea that God is our Father and He will forgive us because He loves us. That contradicts the revealed truth of God in Jesus Christ. It makes the Cross unnecessary, and the redemption “much ado about nothing.” God forgives sin only because of the death of Christ. God could forgive people in no other way than by the death of His Son, and Jesus is exalted as Savior because of His death. “We see Jesus . . . for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor . . .” (Hebrews 2:9). The greatest note of triumph ever sounded in the ears of a startled universe was that sounded on the Cross of Christ— “It is finished!” (John 19:30). That is the final word in the redemption of humankind.
Anything that lessens or completely obliterates the holiness of God, through a false view of His love, contradicts the truth of God as revealed by Jesus Christ. Never allow yourself to believe that Jesus Christ stands with us, and against God, out of pity and compassion, or that He became a curse for us out of sympathy for us. Jesus Christ became a curse for us by divine decree. Our part in realizing the tremendous meaning of His curse is the conviction of sin. Conviction is given to us as a gift of shame and repentance; it is the great mercy of God. Jesus Christ hates the sin in people, and Calvary is the measure of His hatred.
Purpose in Everything
Posted: 20 Nov 2010 10:01 PM PST
We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him. Romans 8:28
Everything? Everything. Chicken-hearted disciples. A two-timing Judas. A pierced side. Spineless Pharisees. A hardhearted high priest. In everything God worked. I dare you to find one element of the cross that he did not manage for good or recycle for symbolism. Give it a go. I think you’ll find what I found—-every dark detail was actually a golden moment in the cause of Christ.
Can’t he do the same for you?
Genesis 26
Isaac and Abimelek
1 Now there was a famine in the land—besides the previous famine in Abraham’s time—and Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines in Gerar. 2 The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. 3 Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. 4 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, 5 because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions.” 6 So Isaac stayed in Gerar.
7 When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.”
8 When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelek king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. 9 So Abimelek summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?”
Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.”
10 Then Abimelek said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”
11 So Abimelek gave orders to all the people: “Anyone who harms this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”
12 Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him. 13 The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. 14 He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. 15 So all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.
16 Then Abimelek said to Isaac, “Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us.”
17 So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar, where he settled. 18 Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them.
19 Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. 20 But the herders of Gerar quarreled with those of Isaac and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him. 21 Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. 22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, “Now the LORD has given us room and we will flourish in the land.”
23 From there he went up to Beersheba. 24 That night the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”
25 Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.
26 Meanwhile, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces. 27 Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?”
28 They answered, “We saw clearly that the LORD was with you; so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’—between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we did not harm you but always treated you well and sent you away peacefully. And now you are blessed by the LORD.”
30 Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. 31 Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they went away peacefully.
32 That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!” 33 He called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba.
Jacob Takes Esau’s Blessing
34 When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 8:1-2
1 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
Out Of The Mouth Of Babes
November 21, 2010 — by David H. Roper
Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength. —Psalm 8:2
Psalm 8 begins with a startling contrast. David seems to suggest that while God has revealed His glory in the skies, another persuasive answer to His critics comes in the utterances of a child: “Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, because of Your enemies, that You may silence the enemy and the avenger” (v.2).
Why is a child’s praise so persuasive? For one thing, it’s because, unlike the impersonal universe, a child can know and love God.
Jesus quoted Psalm 8:2 when religious leaders were scandalized that children were running around in the temple shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” (Matt. 21:15-16). These little ones knew—as those leaders did not know—that Jesus was the long-awaited Son of God.
Some of my most memorable moments as a parent came when I knelt beside our children’s beds at night, and they opened their hearts to God. The simplicity of their love and trust as they prayed touched me deeply, dispelled my doubts and fears, and drew me to faith.
We must never take lightly little ones who believe in Christ (Matt. 18:6,10). Their witness is great, as is the witness in the skies.
Could it be that the trusting child—
Who with childlike faith stands strong—
Can teach us more than sun and stars
About to whom our hearts belong? —Branon
Children are God’s precious jewels— help them shine for Christ.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 21th, 2010
"It is Finished!"
I have finished the work which You have given Me to do —John 17:4
The death of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment in history of the very mind and intent of God. There is no place for seeing Jesus Christ as a martyr. His death was not something that happened to Him— something that might have been prevented. His death was the very reason He came.
Never build your case for forgiveness on the idea that God is our Father and He will forgive us because He loves us. That contradicts the revealed truth of God in Jesus Christ. It makes the Cross unnecessary, and the redemption “much ado about nothing.” God forgives sin only because of the death of Christ. God could forgive people in no other way than by the death of His Son, and Jesus is exalted as Savior because of His death. “We see Jesus . . . for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor . . .” (Hebrews 2:9). The greatest note of triumph ever sounded in the ears of a startled universe was that sounded on the Cross of Christ— “It is finished!” (John 19:30). That is the final word in the redemption of humankind.
Anything that lessens or completely obliterates the holiness of God, through a false view of His love, contradicts the truth of God as revealed by Jesus Christ. Never allow yourself to believe that Jesus Christ stands with us, and against God, out of pity and compassion, or that He became a curse for us out of sympathy for us. Jesus Christ became a curse for us by divine decree. Our part in realizing the tremendous meaning of His curse is the conviction of sin. Conviction is given to us as a gift of shame and repentance; it is the great mercy of God. Jesus Christ hates the sin in people, and Calvary is the measure of His hatred.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Genesis 25, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: The One Who Leads
The One Who Leads
Posted: 19 Nov 2010 10:01 PM PST
He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. Psalm 23:2, NKJV
Note the two pronouns preceding the two verbs in this verse. He makes me… He leads me…
Who is in charge? The shepherd. The shepherd selects the trail and prepares the pasture. The sheep’s job—our job—is to watch the shepherd.
Genesis 25
The Death of Abraham
1 Abraham had taken another wife, whose name was Keturah. 2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. 3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan; the descendants of Dedan were the Ashurites, the Letushites and the Leummites. 4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanok, Abida and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah.
5 Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. 6 But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.
7 Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years. 8 Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people. 9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, 10 the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. 11 After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi.
Ishmael’s Sons
12 This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Sarah’s slave, Hagar the Egyptian, bore to Abraham.
13 These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. 16 These were the sons of Ishmael, and these are the names of the twelve tribal rulers according to their settlements and camps. 17 Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died, and he was gathered to his people. 18 His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt, as you go toward Ashur. And they lived in hostility toward all the tribes related to them.
Jacob and Esau
19 This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Isaac.
Abraham became the father of Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.
21 Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD.
23 The LORD said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you will be separated;
one people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.”
24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. 26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.
27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. 28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.)
31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”
32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”
33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.
34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.
So Esau despised his birthright.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Romans 6:1-14
Romans 6:1-14 (NIV)Ro 1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- 7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. 14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
Misapplied Learning
November 20, 2010 — by C. P. Hia
Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. —Romans 6:11
After a 4-year-old got into trouble at preschool, his mom asked him what he had done wrong. He explained, “I was angry with a playmate. But you told me that I should not hit anyone, so I asked my friend to do it for me!”
Where does someone so young learn that? The Bible tells us he did not have to be taught—he was born with it! It is part of the fallen nature that all of us have at birth.
But the Christian does not have to respond according to his fallen nature. Paul reminds us that “our old man was crucified with [Christ], . . . that we should no longer be slaves of sin” (Rom. 6:6). We are “a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17) and have been set free and have become “slaves of God” (Rom. 6:22).
Yet, as Christians we do still struggle with our flesh and its sinful desires (Rom. 7:18-19). But now that “we are alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord,” we can respond in a God-honoring way (Rom. 6:11).
Instead of being like the young boy who tried to get revenge, we can obey the instructions of Romans 6:13, “Do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God . . . as instruments of righteousness.”
O help us, Lord, to heed Your Word,
Its precepts to obey;
And give us strength to quench the urge
To do things our own way. —Sper
We gain the victory when we give up sin’s pleasure in exchange for Christ’s power.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 20th, 2010
The Forgiveness of God
In Him we have . . . the forgiveness of sins . . . —Ephesians 1:7
Beware of the pleasant view of the fatherhood of God: God is so kind and loving that of course He will forgive us. That thought, based solely on emotion, cannot be found anywhere in the New Testament. The only basis on which God can forgive us is the tremendous tragedy of the Cross of Christ. To base our forgiveness on any other ground is unconscious blasphemy. The only ground on which God can forgive our sin and reinstate us to His favor is through the Cross of Christ. There is no other way! Forgiveness, which is so easy for us to accept, cost the agony at Calvary. We should never take the forgiveness of sin, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and our sanctification in simple faith, and then forget the enormous cost to God that made all of this ours.
Forgiveness is the divine miracle of grace. The cost to God was the Cross of Christ. To forgive sin, while remaining a holy God, this price had to be paid. Never accept a view of the fatherhood of God if it blots out the atonement. The revealed truth of God is that without the atonement He cannot forgive— He would contradict His nature if He did. The only way we can be forgiven is by being brought back to God through the atonement of the Cross. God’s forgiveness is possible only in the supernatural realm.
Compared with the miracle of the forgiveness of sin, the experience of sanctification is small. Sanctification is simply the wonderful expression or evidence of the forgiveness of sins in a human life. But the thing that awakens the deepest fountain of gratitude in a human being is that God has forgiven his sin. Paul never got away from this. Once you realize all that it cost God to forgive you, you will be held as in a vise, constrained by the love of God.
The One Who Leads
Posted: 19 Nov 2010 10:01 PM PST
He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. Psalm 23:2, NKJV
Note the two pronouns preceding the two verbs in this verse. He makes me… He leads me…
Who is in charge? The shepherd. The shepherd selects the trail and prepares the pasture. The sheep’s job—our job—is to watch the shepherd.
Genesis 25
The Death of Abraham
1 Abraham had taken another wife, whose name was Keturah. 2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. 3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan; the descendants of Dedan were the Ashurites, the Letushites and the Leummites. 4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanok, Abida and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah.
5 Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. 6 But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.
7 Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years. 8 Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people. 9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, 10 the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. 11 After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi.
Ishmael’s Sons
12 This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Sarah’s slave, Hagar the Egyptian, bore to Abraham.
13 These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. 16 These were the sons of Ishmael, and these are the names of the twelve tribal rulers according to their settlements and camps. 17 Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died, and he was gathered to his people. 18 His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt, as you go toward Ashur. And they lived in hostility toward all the tribes related to them.
Jacob and Esau
19 This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Isaac.
Abraham became the father of Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.
21 Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD.
23 The LORD said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you will be separated;
one people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.”
24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. 26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.
27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. 28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.)
31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”
32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”
33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.
34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.
So Esau despised his birthright.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Romans 6:1-14
Romans 6:1-14 (NIV)Ro 1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- 7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. 14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
Misapplied Learning
November 20, 2010 — by C. P. Hia
Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. —Romans 6:11
After a 4-year-old got into trouble at preschool, his mom asked him what he had done wrong. He explained, “I was angry with a playmate. But you told me that I should not hit anyone, so I asked my friend to do it for me!”
Where does someone so young learn that? The Bible tells us he did not have to be taught—he was born with it! It is part of the fallen nature that all of us have at birth.
But the Christian does not have to respond according to his fallen nature. Paul reminds us that “our old man was crucified with [Christ], . . . that we should no longer be slaves of sin” (Rom. 6:6). We are “a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17) and have been set free and have become “slaves of God” (Rom. 6:22).
Yet, as Christians we do still struggle with our flesh and its sinful desires (Rom. 7:18-19). But now that “we are alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord,” we can respond in a God-honoring way (Rom. 6:11).
Instead of being like the young boy who tried to get revenge, we can obey the instructions of Romans 6:13, “Do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God . . . as instruments of righteousness.”
O help us, Lord, to heed Your Word,
Its precepts to obey;
And give us strength to quench the urge
To do things our own way. —Sper
We gain the victory when we give up sin’s pleasure in exchange for Christ’s power.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 20th, 2010
The Forgiveness of God
In Him we have . . . the forgiveness of sins . . . —Ephesians 1:7
Beware of the pleasant view of the fatherhood of God: God is so kind and loving that of course He will forgive us. That thought, based solely on emotion, cannot be found anywhere in the New Testament. The only basis on which God can forgive us is the tremendous tragedy of the Cross of Christ. To base our forgiveness on any other ground is unconscious blasphemy. The only ground on which God can forgive our sin and reinstate us to His favor is through the Cross of Christ. There is no other way! Forgiveness, which is so easy for us to accept, cost the agony at Calvary. We should never take the forgiveness of sin, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and our sanctification in simple faith, and then forget the enormous cost to God that made all of this ours.
Forgiveness is the divine miracle of grace. The cost to God was the Cross of Christ. To forgive sin, while remaining a holy God, this price had to be paid. Never accept a view of the fatherhood of God if it blots out the atonement. The revealed truth of God is that without the atonement He cannot forgive— He would contradict His nature if He did. The only way we can be forgiven is by being brought back to God through the atonement of the Cross. God’s forgiveness is possible only in the supernatural realm.
Compared with the miracle of the forgiveness of sin, the experience of sanctification is small. Sanctification is simply the wonderful expression or evidence of the forgiveness of sins in a human life. But the thing that awakens the deepest fountain of gratitude in a human being is that God has forgiven his sin. Paul never got away from this. Once you realize all that it cost God to forgive you, you will be held as in a vise, constrained by the love of God.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Matthew 17, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: God’s Staying Power
God’s Staying Power
Posted: 18 Nov 2010 10:01 PM PST
God always does what he says, and is gracious in everything he does. Psalm 145:13; The Message
God never gives up.
When Moses said, “Here I am, send Aaron,” God didn’t give up…When Peter worshiped him at the supper and cursed him at the fire, he didn’t give up…
So, the next time doubt walks into your life remember the cross, where in holy blood is written the promise, “God would give up his only son before he’d give up on you.”
Matthew 17
The Transfiguration
1 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
4 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” 8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
10 The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”
11 Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. 12 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.
Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Boy
14 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”
17 “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” [21]
Jesus Predicts His Death a Second Time
22 When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. 23 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief.
The Temple Tax
24 After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”
25 “Yes, he does,” he replied.
When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?”
26 “From others,” Peter answered.
“Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. 27 “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Peter 2:9-17
1 Peter 2:9-17 (NIV)1Pe 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. 13 Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. 16 Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. 17 Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
National Pride
November 19, 2010 — by Joe Stowell
You are a chosen generation, . . . a holy nation . . . that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness. —1 Peter 2:9
My wife, Martie, and I have grown to love England—its history, culture, and people. One of our favorite activities when we visit is going to outdoor concerts (also known as proms) on the sloping lawns of ancient estates. “The Last Night of the Proms” event is the best, with fireworks and hundreds of nationals waving little British flags to rousing patriotic tunes.
We loved joining the celebration—until the summer our children came with us. When we started waving our flags with all the enthusiastic Brits, our kids were aghast. I can still hear them shouting over the music, “What are you doing?! You’re Americans!”
God must often feel like that when we blend in and live like the “locals” around us. I can almost hear Him saying, “What are you doing living like that?! You belong to My nation!”
Peter reminds us that we are different from the locals—we are a “holy nation” (1 Peter 2:9). Being holy means that we are unique, set apart for Jesus, becoming like Him, and reflecting His countercultural ways of living. It means that we are forgiving in the face of cruel offenses; and merciful, gracious, truthful, and loyal to our promises. It means being just like Him.
So let’s start waving the flag of holiness as members of the “Jesus nation”!
O child of God, guard well your life
From anything that stains the heart;
Forsake those things that soil the mind—
Your Father wants you set apart. —Fasick
Our loyalty to Jesus should be seen and heard in our lives.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 19th, 2010
"When He Has Come"
When He has come, He will convict the world of sin . . . —John 16:8
Very few of us know anything about conviction of sin. We know the experience of being disturbed because we have done wrong things. But conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit blots out every relationship on earth and makes us aware of only one— “Against You, You only, have I sinned . . .” (Psalm 51:4). When a person is convicted of sin in this way, he knows with every bit of his conscience that God would not dare to forgive him. If God did forgive him, then this person would have a stronger sense of justice than God. God does forgive, but it cost the breaking of His heart with grief in the death of Christ to enable Him to do so. The great miracle of the grace of God is that He forgives sin, and it is the death of Jesus Christ alone that enables the divine nature to forgive and to remain true to itself in doing so. It is shallow nonsense to say that God forgives us because He is love. Once we have been convicted of sin, we will never say this again. The love of God means Calvary— nothing less! The love of God is spelled out on the Cross and nowhere else. The only basis for which God can forgive me is the Cross of Christ. It is there that His conscience is satisfied.
Forgiveness doesn’t merely mean that I am saved from hell and have been made ready for heaven (no one would accept forgiveness on that level). Forgiveness means that I am forgiven into a newly created relationship which identifies me with God in Christ. The miracle of redemption is that God turns me, the unholy one, into the standard of Himself, the Holy One. He does this by putting into me a new nature, the nature of Jesus Christ.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Poison in Your Soul - #6225
Friday, November 19, 2010
The weather wasn't the greatest on that cold November night in Colorado. But Dick Ebersol's pilot felt they were good to take off. As head of NBC Sports, and the man who took the worldwide coverage of the Olympics to a new level, Dick Ebersol is known as one of the most powerful men in the sporting world. But that night, he was just a dad who lost his son. The plane crashed on takeoff. Dick's older son literally pulled him from the wreckage. But his 14-year-old son Teddy didn't make it out. A few days later, Dick's wife and Teddy's mom, retired actress Susan St. James, was interviewed on NBC's "Today" show. She spoke with amazing poise. At one point, she talked about trying to help the surviving kids know how to handle some of the feelings that might come up - including what she referred to as "resentment." Out of her pain, she made a statement filled with so much insight that I hope I'll never forget it. She said, "I've always told my kids, having resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Poison in Your Soul."
Poison. It's a strong word to describe bitterness and resentment in your heart. But experience proves, and the Bible clearly confirms, that poison is the right word. And it's a poison that affects the person who's hurt you only a little, if at all. But for you, it's a poison in your soul that eats at you from the inside out most of the time.
One of the Bible's warnings about bitterness begins with this sobering possibility: "See to it that no one misses the grace of God." That's in Hebrews 12:15 , our word for today from the Word of God. If you're wounded and hurt, that's no time to be missing the grace of God - not when you need it the most. So how do you miss God's grace? Read on. "See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many." God's grace and our bitterness apparently cannot coexist in the same heart. Either God's grace will push out your bitterness, or your bitterness will push out God's grace.
In reality, you don't hold a grudge - a grudge holds you. It's like you can't stop thinking about the very person you wish you could forget. But a grudge shackles you to that person emotionally. The poison in your soul isn't hurting them, but it's killing you inside. It's a huge, heavy backpack you carry with you everywhere you go.
And hard or bitter feelings toward someone don't just hurt you. They end up "causing trouble" and "defiling many." That negativity spills out on other people; people who don't deserve it. A darkness emanates from your personality, poisoning your other close relationships; sometimes ruining friendships, marriages, children, and churches.
There's only one antidote for the poison - forgiving. Ephesians 4 says "get rid of all bitterness...be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other..." Now comes the zinger. "...just as in Christ God forgave you." The person who hurt you may not deserve to be forgiven, but then you didn't deserve God's forgiveness. To forgive them is not to pretend there was nothing wrong with what they did - it's releasing them completely to God for Him to deal with them. It's drawing a line and making a decision that from this day on you will, with God's strength, base your treatment of them, not on how they treated you, but on how Jesus treated you! You'll copy Him.
You've been the forgivee - now you become the forgiver. Or you store poison in your soul; poison that will cripple or destroy so much that could have been. It's time for the antidote. It's time to be free. It's time to forgive.
God’s Staying Power
Posted: 18 Nov 2010 10:01 PM PST
God always does what he says, and is gracious in everything he does. Psalm 145:13; The Message
God never gives up.
When Moses said, “Here I am, send Aaron,” God didn’t give up…When Peter worshiped him at the supper and cursed him at the fire, he didn’t give up…
So, the next time doubt walks into your life remember the cross, where in holy blood is written the promise, “God would give up his only son before he’d give up on you.”
Matthew 17
The Transfiguration
1 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
4 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” 8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
10 The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”
11 Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. 12 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.
Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Boy
14 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”
17 “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” [21]
Jesus Predicts His Death a Second Time
22 When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. 23 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief.
The Temple Tax
24 After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”
25 “Yes, he does,” he replied.
When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?”
26 “From others,” Peter answered.
“Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. 27 “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Peter 2:9-17
1 Peter 2:9-17 (NIV)1Pe 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. 13 Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. 16 Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. 17 Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
National Pride
November 19, 2010 — by Joe Stowell
You are a chosen generation, . . . a holy nation . . . that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness. —1 Peter 2:9
My wife, Martie, and I have grown to love England—its history, culture, and people. One of our favorite activities when we visit is going to outdoor concerts (also known as proms) on the sloping lawns of ancient estates. “The Last Night of the Proms” event is the best, with fireworks and hundreds of nationals waving little British flags to rousing patriotic tunes.
We loved joining the celebration—until the summer our children came with us. When we started waving our flags with all the enthusiastic Brits, our kids were aghast. I can still hear them shouting over the music, “What are you doing?! You’re Americans!”
God must often feel like that when we blend in and live like the “locals” around us. I can almost hear Him saying, “What are you doing living like that?! You belong to My nation!”
Peter reminds us that we are different from the locals—we are a “holy nation” (1 Peter 2:9). Being holy means that we are unique, set apart for Jesus, becoming like Him, and reflecting His countercultural ways of living. It means that we are forgiving in the face of cruel offenses; and merciful, gracious, truthful, and loyal to our promises. It means being just like Him.
So let’s start waving the flag of holiness as members of the “Jesus nation”!
O child of God, guard well your life
From anything that stains the heart;
Forsake those things that soil the mind—
Your Father wants you set apart. —Fasick
Our loyalty to Jesus should be seen and heard in our lives.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 19th, 2010
"When He Has Come"
When He has come, He will convict the world of sin . . . —John 16:8
Very few of us know anything about conviction of sin. We know the experience of being disturbed because we have done wrong things. But conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit blots out every relationship on earth and makes us aware of only one— “Against You, You only, have I sinned . . .” (Psalm 51:4). When a person is convicted of sin in this way, he knows with every bit of his conscience that God would not dare to forgive him. If God did forgive him, then this person would have a stronger sense of justice than God. God does forgive, but it cost the breaking of His heart with grief in the death of Christ to enable Him to do so. The great miracle of the grace of God is that He forgives sin, and it is the death of Jesus Christ alone that enables the divine nature to forgive and to remain true to itself in doing so. It is shallow nonsense to say that God forgives us because He is love. Once we have been convicted of sin, we will never say this again. The love of God means Calvary— nothing less! The love of God is spelled out on the Cross and nowhere else. The only basis for which God can forgive me is the Cross of Christ. It is there that His conscience is satisfied.
Forgiveness doesn’t merely mean that I am saved from hell and have been made ready for heaven (no one would accept forgiveness on that level). Forgiveness means that I am forgiven into a newly created relationship which identifies me with God in Christ. The miracle of redemption is that God turns me, the unholy one, into the standard of Himself, the Holy One. He does this by putting into me a new nature, the nature of Jesus Christ.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Poison in Your Soul - #6225
Friday, November 19, 2010
The weather wasn't the greatest on that cold November night in Colorado. But Dick Ebersol's pilot felt they were good to take off. As head of NBC Sports, and the man who took the worldwide coverage of the Olympics to a new level, Dick Ebersol is known as one of the most powerful men in the sporting world. But that night, he was just a dad who lost his son. The plane crashed on takeoff. Dick's older son literally pulled him from the wreckage. But his 14-year-old son Teddy didn't make it out. A few days later, Dick's wife and Teddy's mom, retired actress Susan St. James, was interviewed on NBC's "Today" show. She spoke with amazing poise. At one point, she talked about trying to help the surviving kids know how to handle some of the feelings that might come up - including what she referred to as "resentment." Out of her pain, she made a statement filled with so much insight that I hope I'll never forget it. She said, "I've always told my kids, having resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Poison in Your Soul."
Poison. It's a strong word to describe bitterness and resentment in your heart. But experience proves, and the Bible clearly confirms, that poison is the right word. And it's a poison that affects the person who's hurt you only a little, if at all. But for you, it's a poison in your soul that eats at you from the inside out most of the time.
One of the Bible's warnings about bitterness begins with this sobering possibility: "See to it that no one misses the grace of God." That's in Hebrews 12:15 , our word for today from the Word of God. If you're wounded and hurt, that's no time to be missing the grace of God - not when you need it the most. So how do you miss God's grace? Read on. "See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many." God's grace and our bitterness apparently cannot coexist in the same heart. Either God's grace will push out your bitterness, or your bitterness will push out God's grace.
In reality, you don't hold a grudge - a grudge holds you. It's like you can't stop thinking about the very person you wish you could forget. But a grudge shackles you to that person emotionally. The poison in your soul isn't hurting them, but it's killing you inside. It's a huge, heavy backpack you carry with you everywhere you go.
And hard or bitter feelings toward someone don't just hurt you. They end up "causing trouble" and "defiling many." That negativity spills out on other people; people who don't deserve it. A darkness emanates from your personality, poisoning your other close relationships; sometimes ruining friendships, marriages, children, and churches.
There's only one antidote for the poison - forgiving. Ephesians 4 says "get rid of all bitterness...be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other..." Now comes the zinger. "...just as in Christ God forgave you." The person who hurt you may not deserve to be forgiven, but then you didn't deserve God's forgiveness. To forgive them is not to pretend there was nothing wrong with what they did - it's releasing them completely to God for Him to deal with them. It's drawing a line and making a decision that from this day on you will, with God's strength, base your treatment of them, not on how they treated you, but on how Jesus treated you! You'll copy Him.
You've been the forgivee - now you become the forgiver. Or you store poison in your soul; poison that will cripple or destroy so much that could have been. It's time for the antidote. It's time to be free. It's time to forgive.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Max Lucado Daily: Worship
Worship
Posted: 17 Nov 2010 10:01 PM PST
Being kind to the poor is like lending to the Lord; he will reward you for what you have done. Proverbs 19:17
When you take food to the poor, that’s an act of worship. When you give a word of kindness to someone who needs it, that’s an act of worship. When you write someone a letter to encourage them or sit down and open your Bible with someone to teach them, that’s an act of worship.
Genesis 24
Isaac and Rebekah
1 Abraham was now very old, and the LORD had blessed him in every way. 2 He said to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh. 3 I want you to swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, 4 but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.”
5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?”
6 “Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said. 7 “The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’—he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. 8 If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.” 9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.
10 Then the servant left, taking with him ten of his master’s camels loaded with all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim and made his way to the town of Nahor. 11 He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water.
12 Then he prayed, “LORD, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. 14 May it be that when I say to a young woman, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”
15 Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milkah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. 16 The woman was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever slept with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.
17 The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”
18 “Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.
19 After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have had enough to drink.” 20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. 21 Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the LORD had made his journey successful.
22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels. 23 Then he asked, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”
24 She answered him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milkah bore to Nahor.” 25 And she added, “We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night.”
26 Then the man bowed down and worshiped the LORD, 27 saying, “Praise be to the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the LORD has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”
28 The young woman ran and told her mother’s household about these things. 29 Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he hurried out to the man at the spring. 30 As soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and had heard Rebekah tell what the man said to her, he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels near the spring. 31 “Come, you who are blessed by the LORD,” he said. “Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.”
32 So the man went to the house, and the camels were unloaded. Straw and fodder were brought for the camels, and water for him and his men to wash their feet. 33 Then food was set before him, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told you what I have to say.”
“Then tell us,” Laban said.
34 So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. 35 The LORD has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. 36 My master’s wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns. 37 And my master made me swear an oath, and said, ‘You must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, 38 but go to my father’s family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son.’
39 “Then I asked my master, ‘What if the woman will not come back with me?’
40 “He replied, ‘The LORD, before whom I have walked faithfully, will send his angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you can get a wife for my son from my own clan and from my father’s family. 41 You will be released from my oath if, when you go to my clan, they refuse to give her to you—then you will be released from my oath.’
42 “When I came to the spring today, I said, ‘LORD, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come. 43 See, I am standing beside this spring. If a young woman comes out to draw water and I say to her, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar,” 44 and if she says to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too,” let her be the one the LORD has chosen for my master’s son.’
45 “Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’
46 “She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too.’ So I drank, and she watered the camels also.
47 “I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’
“She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milkah bore to him.’
“Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms, 48 and I bowed down and worshiped the LORD. I praised the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son. 49 Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn.”
50 Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the LORD; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. 51 Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, as the LORD has directed.”
52 When Abraham’s servant heard what they said, he bowed down to the ground before the LORD. 53 Then the servant brought out gold and silver jewelry and articles of clothing and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave costly gifts to her brother and to her mother. 54 Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night there.
When they got up the next morning, he said, “Send me on my way to my master.”
55 But her brother and her mother replied, “Let the young woman remain with us ten days or so; then you may go.”
56 But he said to them, “Do not detain me, now that the LORD has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master.”
57 Then they said, “Let’s call the young woman and ask her about it.” 58 So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?”
“I will go,” she said.
59 So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,
“Our sister, may you increase
to thousands upon thousands;
may your offspring possess
the cities of their enemies.”
61 Then Rebekah and her attendants got ready and mounted the camels and went back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.
62 Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev. 63 He went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching. 64 Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel 65 and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?”
“He is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself.
66 Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. 67 Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Hebrews 13:1-9
Hebrews 13:1-9 (NIV)Heb 1 Keep on loving each other as brothers. 2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. 3 Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. 4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." 6 So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" 7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them.
Spiritual Junk Food
November 18, 2010 — by Dennis Fisher
Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. —Hebrews 13:9
In many countries, childhood obesity is at an all-time high. A major culprit in such unhealthy weight gain is poor eating habits and junk food.
The term junk food refers to items that taste good but lack nutritional value and are often very high in calories and fat. Chips, soft drinks, candy bars, cookies, and many meals purchased at fast-food restaurants fit these criteria.
To be spiritually healthy, we have to avoid “spiritual junk food” as well. Some religious teachers proclaim “a different gospel” (Gal. 1:6), ranging from health-and-wealth to a counterfeit spirituality. And some Christian music and books also contain false teaching. Taking in this kind of “food” may seem to satisfy spiritual hunger, but it will not lead to spiritual health.
Hebrews warns us: “Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace” (Heb. 13:9). False teaching is detrimental to our health and is not profitable, because it cannot cleanse from sin nor give power for spiritual growth. But biblical content that is based upon grace and truth does both.
Avoid “spiritual junk food” and instead feast on God’s Word to promote your spiritual health.
To walk close by Your side, my dear Savior,
To be led by You, doing each task,
To feast richly on grace at Your table,
And to know You is all that I ask. —Somerville
Feeding on God’s truth will help us avoid swallowing lies.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 18th, 2010
Winning into Freedom
If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed —John 8:36
If there is even a trace of individual self-satisfaction left in us, it always says, “I can’t surrender,” or “I can’t be free.” But the spiritual part of our being never says “I can’t”; it simply soaks up everything around it. Our spirit hungers for more and more. It is the way we are built. We are designed with a great capacity for God, but sin, our own individuality, and wrong thinking keep us from getting to Him. God delivers us from sin— we have to deliver ourselves from our individuality. This means offering our natural life to God and sacrificing it to Him, so He may transform it into spiritual life through our obedience.
God pays no attention to our natural individuality in the development of our spiritual life. His plan runs right through our natural life. We must see to it that we aid and assist God, and not stand against Him by saying, “I can’t do that.” God will not discipline us; we must discipline ourselves. God will not bring our “arguments . . . and every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5)— we have to do it. Don’t say, “Oh, Lord, I suffer from wandering thoughts.” Don’t suffer from wandering thoughts. Stop listening to the tyranny of your individual natural life and win freedom into the spiritual life.
“If the Son makes you free . . . .” Do not substitute Savior for Son in this passage. The Savior has set us free from sin, but this is the freedom that comes from being set free from myself by the Son. It is what Paul meant in Galatians 2:20 when he said, “I have been crucified with Christ . . . .” His individuality had been broken and his spirit had been united with his Lord; not just merged into Him, but made one with Him. “. . . you shall be free indeed”— free to the very core of your being; free from the inside to the outside. We tend to rely on our own energy, instead of being energized by the power that comes from identification with Jesus.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
How to Be Safe in Dangerous Times - #6224
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Our family has had many great times by the Atlantic Ocean, along the New Jersey Shore. Over the years, we found a little tool that was smart to have if you were going to be spending time next to the ocean. They call it a tide table. It tells you what time high tide and low tide will be each day. That's good to know, especially if you're going to really set up shop for a while on the beach - which many people do. I've watched people bring their own little civilization to the beach with them: tarps and coolers and toys and appliances. You'd think they were planning to live on the beach. What's kind of fun to watch is the people with all that stuff who fall asleep somewhere between low tide and high tide. Slowly but surely, the waves start creeping up from the edge toward their civilization. You really should wake them up, but that wouldn't be any fun. Eventually, as the tide tickles their toes, they wake up only to find some of their civilization about to float away. It's panic city, man! But it didn't have to be that way. See, there's this little tool called a tide table that tells you when the tide...well, you get the idea.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Be Safe in Dangerous Times."
High tide doesn't have to surprise you; it doesn't have to swamp you if you consult the tide table.
You might say that God has a tide table; information that can actually help you avoid getting swamped by high tide. Because, according to the Bible, high tide is coming. The Bible refers to it as "the last days." That's "last" as in the turbulent days that count down to the finale of human history; the personal return of Jesus Christ to write that final chapter. Interestingly enough, surveys show that over half of Americans expect that return of Christ to happen. The Bible leaves no doubt about it, It also describes the times leading up to it.
God uses one word to describe those times in our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Timothy 3:1 . It says: "Mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days." Other translations of this verse call it "dangerous times." This section of the Bible goes on to describe what will make the world so dangerous before Jesus comes back. People will be totally lovers of themselves, the Bible says, lovers of money, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, and much more.
The Bible describes what kind of world Jesus will come back to. A world with massive natural disasters, weapons of mass destruction and raging nations. Recently, a group of distinguished scientists reset what they call the "Doomsday Clock." Since 1945, it's been registering their sense of how close we are to the "midnight" of a global cataclysm. Looking at the unsecured nukes in the world, nuclear possibilities in North Korea and Iran, escalating terrorism and the dangers of climate change, they reset the clock to five minutes to midnight. Dangerous times. Terrible times.
Jesus told us what to do when we saw high tide coming like this. His words: "You must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him" (Matthew 24:44 ). In the words of a Biblical prophet: "Prepare to meet your God" (Amos 4:12 ). There's only one way to be ready, and that's to be sure your life is in the hands of the One who will write the final chapter; the final chapter for this planet, and the final chapter for your life. That is Jesus Christ. Here's the question: do you belong to Him?
Jesus died to get you ready to meet God. It took His death on the cross to pay for the sin that keeps you from God and will keep you out of His heaven forever. Then He walked out of His grave to prove that there's nothing that can take Him down. If there's never been a time when you've said, "Jesus, I resign running my life, I'm Yours," this would be a good time to get that settled. I think our website could help you do that. It's helped a lot of others. There's a simple explanation there of how to be sure you belong to Jesus. Just go to yoursforlife.net. Or it would be fine if you just want to call us and get the information in a little booklet of mine. It's free. It's called Yours For Life. You can call toll-free at 877-741-1200.
The coming of Jesus is scheduled, it's sure and it's "unpostponeable." Whether it's the moment He comes back to earth or the moment He comes for you. Don't risk not being ready.
Worship
Posted: 17 Nov 2010 10:01 PM PST
Being kind to the poor is like lending to the Lord; he will reward you for what you have done. Proverbs 19:17
When you take food to the poor, that’s an act of worship. When you give a word of kindness to someone who needs it, that’s an act of worship. When you write someone a letter to encourage them or sit down and open your Bible with someone to teach them, that’s an act of worship.
Genesis 24
Isaac and Rebekah
1 Abraham was now very old, and the LORD had blessed him in every way. 2 He said to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh. 3 I want you to swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, 4 but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.”
5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?”
6 “Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said. 7 “The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’—he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. 8 If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.” 9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.
10 Then the servant left, taking with him ten of his master’s camels loaded with all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim and made his way to the town of Nahor. 11 He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water.
12 Then he prayed, “LORD, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. 14 May it be that when I say to a young woman, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”
15 Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milkah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. 16 The woman was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever slept with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.
17 The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”
18 “Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.
19 After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have had enough to drink.” 20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. 21 Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the LORD had made his journey successful.
22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels. 23 Then he asked, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”
24 She answered him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milkah bore to Nahor.” 25 And she added, “We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night.”
26 Then the man bowed down and worshiped the LORD, 27 saying, “Praise be to the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the LORD has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”
28 The young woman ran and told her mother’s household about these things. 29 Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he hurried out to the man at the spring. 30 As soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and had heard Rebekah tell what the man said to her, he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels near the spring. 31 “Come, you who are blessed by the LORD,” he said. “Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.”
32 So the man went to the house, and the camels were unloaded. Straw and fodder were brought for the camels, and water for him and his men to wash their feet. 33 Then food was set before him, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told you what I have to say.”
“Then tell us,” Laban said.
34 So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. 35 The LORD has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. 36 My master’s wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns. 37 And my master made me swear an oath, and said, ‘You must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, 38 but go to my father’s family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son.’
39 “Then I asked my master, ‘What if the woman will not come back with me?’
40 “He replied, ‘The LORD, before whom I have walked faithfully, will send his angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you can get a wife for my son from my own clan and from my father’s family. 41 You will be released from my oath if, when you go to my clan, they refuse to give her to you—then you will be released from my oath.’
42 “When I came to the spring today, I said, ‘LORD, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come. 43 See, I am standing beside this spring. If a young woman comes out to draw water and I say to her, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar,” 44 and if she says to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too,” let her be the one the LORD has chosen for my master’s son.’
45 “Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’
46 “She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too.’ So I drank, and she watered the camels also.
47 “I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’
“She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milkah bore to him.’
“Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms, 48 and I bowed down and worshiped the LORD. I praised the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son. 49 Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn.”
50 Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the LORD; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. 51 Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, as the LORD has directed.”
52 When Abraham’s servant heard what they said, he bowed down to the ground before the LORD. 53 Then the servant brought out gold and silver jewelry and articles of clothing and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave costly gifts to her brother and to her mother. 54 Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night there.
When they got up the next morning, he said, “Send me on my way to my master.”
55 But her brother and her mother replied, “Let the young woman remain with us ten days or so; then you may go.”
56 But he said to them, “Do not detain me, now that the LORD has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master.”
57 Then they said, “Let’s call the young woman and ask her about it.” 58 So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?”
“I will go,” she said.
59 So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,
“Our sister, may you increase
to thousands upon thousands;
may your offspring possess
the cities of their enemies.”
61 Then Rebekah and her attendants got ready and mounted the camels and went back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.
62 Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev. 63 He went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching. 64 Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel 65 and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?”
“He is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself.
66 Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. 67 Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Hebrews 13:1-9
Hebrews 13:1-9 (NIV)Heb 1 Keep on loving each other as brothers. 2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. 3 Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. 4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." 6 So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" 7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them.
Spiritual Junk Food
November 18, 2010 — by Dennis Fisher
Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. —Hebrews 13:9
In many countries, childhood obesity is at an all-time high. A major culprit in such unhealthy weight gain is poor eating habits and junk food.
The term junk food refers to items that taste good but lack nutritional value and are often very high in calories and fat. Chips, soft drinks, candy bars, cookies, and many meals purchased at fast-food restaurants fit these criteria.
To be spiritually healthy, we have to avoid “spiritual junk food” as well. Some religious teachers proclaim “a different gospel” (Gal. 1:6), ranging from health-and-wealth to a counterfeit spirituality. And some Christian music and books also contain false teaching. Taking in this kind of “food” may seem to satisfy spiritual hunger, but it will not lead to spiritual health.
Hebrews warns us: “Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace” (Heb. 13:9). False teaching is detrimental to our health and is not profitable, because it cannot cleanse from sin nor give power for spiritual growth. But biblical content that is based upon grace and truth does both.
Avoid “spiritual junk food” and instead feast on God’s Word to promote your spiritual health.
To walk close by Your side, my dear Savior,
To be led by You, doing each task,
To feast richly on grace at Your table,
And to know You is all that I ask. —Somerville
Feeding on God’s truth will help us avoid swallowing lies.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 18th, 2010
Winning into Freedom
If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed —John 8:36
If there is even a trace of individual self-satisfaction left in us, it always says, “I can’t surrender,” or “I can’t be free.” But the spiritual part of our being never says “I can’t”; it simply soaks up everything around it. Our spirit hungers for more and more. It is the way we are built. We are designed with a great capacity for God, but sin, our own individuality, and wrong thinking keep us from getting to Him. God delivers us from sin— we have to deliver ourselves from our individuality. This means offering our natural life to God and sacrificing it to Him, so He may transform it into spiritual life through our obedience.
God pays no attention to our natural individuality in the development of our spiritual life. His plan runs right through our natural life. We must see to it that we aid and assist God, and not stand against Him by saying, “I can’t do that.” God will not discipline us; we must discipline ourselves. God will not bring our “arguments . . . and every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5)— we have to do it. Don’t say, “Oh, Lord, I suffer from wandering thoughts.” Don’t suffer from wandering thoughts. Stop listening to the tyranny of your individual natural life and win freedom into the spiritual life.
“If the Son makes you free . . . .” Do not substitute Savior for Son in this passage. The Savior has set us free from sin, but this is the freedom that comes from being set free from myself by the Son. It is what Paul meant in Galatians 2:20 when he said, “I have been crucified with Christ . . . .” His individuality had been broken and his spirit had been united with his Lord; not just merged into Him, but made one with Him. “. . . you shall be free indeed”— free to the very core of your being; free from the inside to the outside. We tend to rely on our own energy, instead of being energized by the power that comes from identification with Jesus.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
How to Be Safe in Dangerous Times - #6224
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Our family has had many great times by the Atlantic Ocean, along the New Jersey Shore. Over the years, we found a little tool that was smart to have if you were going to be spending time next to the ocean. They call it a tide table. It tells you what time high tide and low tide will be each day. That's good to know, especially if you're going to really set up shop for a while on the beach - which many people do. I've watched people bring their own little civilization to the beach with them: tarps and coolers and toys and appliances. You'd think they were planning to live on the beach. What's kind of fun to watch is the people with all that stuff who fall asleep somewhere between low tide and high tide. Slowly but surely, the waves start creeping up from the edge toward their civilization. You really should wake them up, but that wouldn't be any fun. Eventually, as the tide tickles their toes, they wake up only to find some of their civilization about to float away. It's panic city, man! But it didn't have to be that way. See, there's this little tool called a tide table that tells you when the tide...well, you get the idea.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Be Safe in Dangerous Times."
High tide doesn't have to surprise you; it doesn't have to swamp you if you consult the tide table.
You might say that God has a tide table; information that can actually help you avoid getting swamped by high tide. Because, according to the Bible, high tide is coming. The Bible refers to it as "the last days." That's "last" as in the turbulent days that count down to the finale of human history; the personal return of Jesus Christ to write that final chapter. Interestingly enough, surveys show that over half of Americans expect that return of Christ to happen. The Bible leaves no doubt about it, It also describes the times leading up to it.
God uses one word to describe those times in our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Timothy 3:1 . It says: "Mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days." Other translations of this verse call it "dangerous times." This section of the Bible goes on to describe what will make the world so dangerous before Jesus comes back. People will be totally lovers of themselves, the Bible says, lovers of money, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, and much more.
The Bible describes what kind of world Jesus will come back to. A world with massive natural disasters, weapons of mass destruction and raging nations. Recently, a group of distinguished scientists reset what they call the "Doomsday Clock." Since 1945, it's been registering their sense of how close we are to the "midnight" of a global cataclysm. Looking at the unsecured nukes in the world, nuclear possibilities in North Korea and Iran, escalating terrorism and the dangers of climate change, they reset the clock to five minutes to midnight. Dangerous times. Terrible times.
Jesus told us what to do when we saw high tide coming like this. His words: "You must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him" (Matthew 24:44 ). In the words of a Biblical prophet: "Prepare to meet your God" (Amos 4:12 ). There's only one way to be ready, and that's to be sure your life is in the hands of the One who will write the final chapter; the final chapter for this planet, and the final chapter for your life. That is Jesus Christ. Here's the question: do you belong to Him?
Jesus died to get you ready to meet God. It took His death on the cross to pay for the sin that keeps you from God and will keep you out of His heaven forever. Then He walked out of His grave to prove that there's nothing that can take Him down. If there's never been a time when you've said, "Jesus, I resign running my life, I'm Yours," this would be a good time to get that settled. I think our website could help you do that. It's helped a lot of others. There's a simple explanation there of how to be sure you belong to Jesus. Just go to yoursforlife.net. Or it would be fine if you just want to call us and get the information in a little booklet of mine. It's free. It's called Yours For Life. You can call toll-free at 877-741-1200.
The coming of Jesus is scheduled, it's sure and it's "unpostponeable." Whether it's the moment He comes back to earth or the moment He comes for you. Don't risk not being ready.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Genesis 23, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: God’s Choice
God’s Choice
Posted: 16 Nov 2010 10:01 PM PST
You are…God’s own possession. I Peter 2:9
God loves you simply because He has chosen to do so.
He loves you when you don’t feel lovely.
He loves you when no one else loves you.
Others may abandon you, divorce you, and ignore you, but God will love you. Always. No matter what.
Genesis 23
The Death of Sarah
1 Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. 2 She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.
3 Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites. He said, 4 “I am a foreigner and stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.”
5 The Hittites replied to Abraham, 6 “Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb for burying your dead.”
7 Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites. 8 He said to them, “If you are willing to let me bury my dead, then listen to me and intercede with Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf 9 so he will sell me the cave of Machpelah, which belongs to him and is at the end of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for the full price as a burial site among you.”
10 Ephron the Hittite was sitting among his people and he replied to Abraham in the hearing of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city. 11 “No, my lord,” he said. “Listen to me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.”
12 Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land 13 and he said to Ephron in their hearing, “Listen to me, if you will. I will pay the price of the field. Accept it from me so I can bury my dead there.”
14 Ephron answered Abraham, 15 “Listen to me, my lord; the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”
16 Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weight current among the merchants.
17 So Ephron’s field in Machpelah near Mamre—both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field—was deeded 18 to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city. 19 Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20 So the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Timothy 2:20-22
2 Timothy 2:20-22 (NIV)2Ti 20 In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. 21 If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. 22 Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Say No And Yes
November 17, 2010 — by Albert Lee
Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. —1 John 3:10
When we wash our hands to clean off the grime and germs, do we actually clean them ourselves? No and yes. To be precise, the soap and water does the job—not us. But we make the choice to use the soap and water to clean our hands.
In 2 Timothy 2, the apostle Paul tells us, “Therefore if anyone cleanses himself . . . he will be a vessel for honor” (v.21). This does not mean that we on our own have the power to cleanse ourselves from sin. Rather, we use the cleansing provided by Jesus Christ, who died for us on the cross.
Philippians 3:9 tells us that we are “found in Him, not having [our] own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.”
When we receive Christ, His death and resurrection sets us free from the penalty and the power of sin, thus enabling us to say no and yes in everyday life. We can say no to the desires of the flesh, or “youthful lusts” that Paul mentioned (2 Tim. 2:22). And we can say yes to “righteousness” (right behavior), “faith” (right belief), “love” (right response), and “peace” (right focus).
As we’re cleansed daily, we’ll be “useful for the Master, prepared for every good work” (v.21).
Lord, help us to think of the right and the true,
The pure and the noble—it all points to You;
For if we consider what’s worthy of praise,
We’ll then want to live for You all of our days. —Fitzhugh
Right thinking leads to right living.
Share Say No And Yes with your friends:
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 17th, 2010
The Eternal Goal
By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing . . . I will bless you . . . —Genesis 22:16-17
Abraham, at this point, has reached where he is in touch with the very nature of God. He now understands the reality of God.
My goal is God Himself . . .
At any cost, dear Lord, by any road.
“At any cost . . . by any road” means submitting to God’s way of bringing us to the goal.
There is no possibility of questioning God when He speaks, if He speaks to His own nature in me. Prompt obedience is the only result. When Jesus says, “Come,” I simply come; when He says, “Let go,” I let go; when He says, “Trust God in this matter,” I trust. This work of obedience is the evidence that the nature of God is in me.
God’s revelation of Himself to me is influenced by my character, not by God’s character.
’Tis because I am ordinary,
Thy ways so often look ordinary to me.
It is through the discipline of obedience that I get to the place where Abraham was and I see who God is. God will never be real to me until I come face to face with Him in Jesus Christ. Then I will know and can boldly proclaim, “In all the world, my God, there is none but Thee, there is none but Thee.”
The promises of God are of no value to us until, through obedience, we come to understand the nature of God. We may read some things in the Bible every day for a year and they may mean nothing to us. Then, because we have been obedient to God in some small detail, we suddenly see what God means and His nature is instantly opened up to us. “All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen . . .” (2 Corinthians 1:20). Our “Yes” must be born of obedience; when by obedience we ratify a promise of God by saying, “Amen,” or, “So be it.” That promise becomes ours.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Drinking Dirt - #6223
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
When you use our kitchen sink, you notice this little contraption attached to the faucet. It's one of those sophisticated water filters. Before the water arrives in your glass or container, it has to pass through that filter. Now, I don't know about you, but I hate surprises in my H2O. I was amazed the first time that we took that filter off to clean it. Oh, it needed lots of cleaning! It had screened out of our drinking water this layer of dirty stuff. I didn't even want to think about that going into my body. Let's hear it for the filter!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Drinking Dirt."
That's actually what a lot of people are doing - drinking dirt. Mentally, that is; just getting a lot of things that are spiritually and morally impure poured right into your soul - unfiltered input. And if you belong to Jesus Christ, the dirt is rushing into what the Bible describes as the "temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ). God literally lives in you through His Holy Spirit. That's Holy Spirit. Dirty stuff should never defile His temple.
In fact, in our word for today from the Word of God, God clearly commands us to filter what's coming in. 2 Corinthians 7:1 says, "Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." A lot of times we don't have a spiritual filter for what we see and hear. Or we have a pretty wide screen on that filter; one porous enough to let in a lot that has no place in a heart or a mind that's owned by Jesus and inhabited by the Holy Spirit of God.
Sometimes it takes a child to show us "sophisticated" adults how we should be living. The other day, the teacher was a five-year-old, our grandson, who was watching a whole new crop of kids' shows. Captain Kangaroo and Mister Rogers are long gone; and yes, Big Bird is still flying around Sesame Street. But now I'm learning about Dora the Explorer, Bob the Builder, a tomato named Bob, a cucumber named Larry. Our grandson, of course, has a few favorites he likes to watch. There's one he watches almost every day. But the other day, he walked over to the television and did something he does not do with this program that he likes a lot. He turned it off in the middle of the show. The story was starting to involve some ghost and witch stuff. When Daddy asked our grandson why he had turned off one of his favorites, he just said, "It was a bad one, Daddy."
The radar of a five-year-old boy in whom Jesus lives. He knew that no matter how much he liked the show, no matter how many shows they have where there's nothing bad, when it is bad, it isn't for him. You know, that's a model for a Jesus-follower of any age. But all too often, we watch portrayed, or we read about, or we listen to something that is part of the very sin that Jesus died for.
The Bible says He carried our sins in His body on the tree, "that we might die to sins" (1 Peter 2:24 ). So what business do we have letting in things that portray premarital sex, adultery, occult practices that the Bible calls an "abomination," violence, disrespect for God and His Son? You can't turn on the TV or video or go to a website and then turn off being a temple of the Holy Spirit. We're most likely to let in the garbage when it's wrapped in a package that's funny, or entertaining, or brilliant, or clever, or popular. Satan's no dummy! He comes in under the radar, like a Stealth Bomber, when your guard is down.
It's not to be taken lightly when God gives a command that says, "Above all else..." And He does that in Proverbs 4:23 . "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Guard your heart as the spiritual reservoir from which you drink all day long. If it's a "bad one," you've got to turn it off if you're serious about really being His man or woman. If you don't want to let dirt into the Holy Spirit's house, filter what you let come in. You wouldn't knowingly let your mouth drink dirt. Well, then, don't let your soul do it!
God’s Choice
Posted: 16 Nov 2010 10:01 PM PST
You are…God’s own possession. I Peter 2:9
God loves you simply because He has chosen to do so.
He loves you when you don’t feel lovely.
He loves you when no one else loves you.
Others may abandon you, divorce you, and ignore you, but God will love you. Always. No matter what.
Genesis 23
The Death of Sarah
1 Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. 2 She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.
3 Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites. He said, 4 “I am a foreigner and stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.”
5 The Hittites replied to Abraham, 6 “Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb for burying your dead.”
7 Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites. 8 He said to them, “If you are willing to let me bury my dead, then listen to me and intercede with Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf 9 so he will sell me the cave of Machpelah, which belongs to him and is at the end of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for the full price as a burial site among you.”
10 Ephron the Hittite was sitting among his people and he replied to Abraham in the hearing of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city. 11 “No, my lord,” he said. “Listen to me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.”
12 Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land 13 and he said to Ephron in their hearing, “Listen to me, if you will. I will pay the price of the field. Accept it from me so I can bury my dead there.”
14 Ephron answered Abraham, 15 “Listen to me, my lord; the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”
16 Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weight current among the merchants.
17 So Ephron’s field in Machpelah near Mamre—both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field—was deeded 18 to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city. 19 Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20 So the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Timothy 2:20-22
2 Timothy 2:20-22 (NIV)2Ti 20 In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. 21 If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. 22 Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Say No And Yes
November 17, 2010 — by Albert Lee
Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. —1 John 3:10
When we wash our hands to clean off the grime and germs, do we actually clean them ourselves? No and yes. To be precise, the soap and water does the job—not us. But we make the choice to use the soap and water to clean our hands.
In 2 Timothy 2, the apostle Paul tells us, “Therefore if anyone cleanses himself . . . he will be a vessel for honor” (v.21). This does not mean that we on our own have the power to cleanse ourselves from sin. Rather, we use the cleansing provided by Jesus Christ, who died for us on the cross.
Philippians 3:9 tells us that we are “found in Him, not having [our] own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.”
When we receive Christ, His death and resurrection sets us free from the penalty and the power of sin, thus enabling us to say no and yes in everyday life. We can say no to the desires of the flesh, or “youthful lusts” that Paul mentioned (2 Tim. 2:22). And we can say yes to “righteousness” (right behavior), “faith” (right belief), “love” (right response), and “peace” (right focus).
As we’re cleansed daily, we’ll be “useful for the Master, prepared for every good work” (v.21).
Lord, help us to think of the right and the true,
The pure and the noble—it all points to You;
For if we consider what’s worthy of praise,
We’ll then want to live for You all of our days. —Fitzhugh
Right thinking leads to right living.
Share Say No And Yes with your friends:
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 17th, 2010
The Eternal Goal
By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing . . . I will bless you . . . —Genesis 22:16-17
Abraham, at this point, has reached where he is in touch with the very nature of God. He now understands the reality of God.
My goal is God Himself . . .
At any cost, dear Lord, by any road.
“At any cost . . . by any road” means submitting to God’s way of bringing us to the goal.
There is no possibility of questioning God when He speaks, if He speaks to His own nature in me. Prompt obedience is the only result. When Jesus says, “Come,” I simply come; when He says, “Let go,” I let go; when He says, “Trust God in this matter,” I trust. This work of obedience is the evidence that the nature of God is in me.
God’s revelation of Himself to me is influenced by my character, not by God’s character.
’Tis because I am ordinary,
Thy ways so often look ordinary to me.
It is through the discipline of obedience that I get to the place where Abraham was and I see who God is. God will never be real to me until I come face to face with Him in Jesus Christ. Then I will know and can boldly proclaim, “In all the world, my God, there is none but Thee, there is none but Thee.”
The promises of God are of no value to us until, through obedience, we come to understand the nature of God. We may read some things in the Bible every day for a year and they may mean nothing to us. Then, because we have been obedient to God in some small detail, we suddenly see what God means and His nature is instantly opened up to us. “All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen . . .” (2 Corinthians 1:20). Our “Yes” must be born of obedience; when by obedience we ratify a promise of God by saying, “Amen,” or, “So be it.” That promise becomes ours.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Drinking Dirt - #6223
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
When you use our kitchen sink, you notice this little contraption attached to the faucet. It's one of those sophisticated water filters. Before the water arrives in your glass or container, it has to pass through that filter. Now, I don't know about you, but I hate surprises in my H2O. I was amazed the first time that we took that filter off to clean it. Oh, it needed lots of cleaning! It had screened out of our drinking water this layer of dirty stuff. I didn't even want to think about that going into my body. Let's hear it for the filter!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Drinking Dirt."
That's actually what a lot of people are doing - drinking dirt. Mentally, that is; just getting a lot of things that are spiritually and morally impure poured right into your soul - unfiltered input. And if you belong to Jesus Christ, the dirt is rushing into what the Bible describes as the "temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ). God literally lives in you through His Holy Spirit. That's Holy Spirit. Dirty stuff should never defile His temple.
In fact, in our word for today from the Word of God, God clearly commands us to filter what's coming in. 2 Corinthians 7:1 says, "Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." A lot of times we don't have a spiritual filter for what we see and hear. Or we have a pretty wide screen on that filter; one porous enough to let in a lot that has no place in a heart or a mind that's owned by Jesus and inhabited by the Holy Spirit of God.
Sometimes it takes a child to show us "sophisticated" adults how we should be living. The other day, the teacher was a five-year-old, our grandson, who was watching a whole new crop of kids' shows. Captain Kangaroo and Mister Rogers are long gone; and yes, Big Bird is still flying around Sesame Street. But now I'm learning about Dora the Explorer, Bob the Builder, a tomato named Bob, a cucumber named Larry. Our grandson, of course, has a few favorites he likes to watch. There's one he watches almost every day. But the other day, he walked over to the television and did something he does not do with this program that he likes a lot. He turned it off in the middle of the show. The story was starting to involve some ghost and witch stuff. When Daddy asked our grandson why he had turned off one of his favorites, he just said, "It was a bad one, Daddy."
The radar of a five-year-old boy in whom Jesus lives. He knew that no matter how much he liked the show, no matter how many shows they have where there's nothing bad, when it is bad, it isn't for him. You know, that's a model for a Jesus-follower of any age. But all too often, we watch portrayed, or we read about, or we listen to something that is part of the very sin that Jesus died for.
The Bible says He carried our sins in His body on the tree, "that we might die to sins" (1 Peter 2:24 ). So what business do we have letting in things that portray premarital sex, adultery, occult practices that the Bible calls an "abomination," violence, disrespect for God and His Son? You can't turn on the TV or video or go to a website and then turn off being a temple of the Holy Spirit. We're most likely to let in the garbage when it's wrapped in a package that's funny, or entertaining, or brilliant, or clever, or popular. Satan's no dummy! He comes in under the radar, like a Stealth Bomber, when your guard is down.
It's not to be taken lightly when God gives a command that says, "Above all else..." And He does that in Proverbs 4:23 . "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Guard your heart as the spiritual reservoir from which you drink all day long. If it's a "bad one," you've got to turn it off if you're serious about really being His man or woman. If you don't want to let dirt into the Holy Spirit's house, filter what you let come in. You wouldn't knowingly let your mouth drink dirt. Well, then, don't let your soul do it!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Job 42, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily:Gentle Thunder
When you were in trouble, you called, and I saved you. I answered you with thunder. Psalm 81:7
God is as creative as he is relentless. The same hand that sent manna to Israel sent Uzzah to his death. The same hand that set the children free from Israel also sent them captive to Babylon. Both kind and stern. Tender and tough. Faithfully firm. Patiently urgent. Eagerly tolerant. Softly shouting. Gently thundering.
Job 42
Job
1 Then Job replied to the LORD:
2 “I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’
5 My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”
Epilogue
7 After the LORD had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.” 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the LORD told them; and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer.
10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. 11 All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the LORD had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.
12 The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. 15 Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.
16 After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17 And so Job died, an old man and full of years.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Mark 2:13-17
13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them.
14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.
15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.
16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the "sinners" and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"
17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Cross The Divide
November 15, 2010 — by Dave Branon
As [Jesus] was dining in Levi’s house, . . . many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus. —Mark 2:15
Two young men with mischief on their minds approached a missionary’s outreach bus parked in a downtown area of a German city.
The missionaries were there to offer refreshments as a way to open up conversations about Christ. The two visitors, wearing skull-and-crossbones bandannas, were there to offer trouble.
But the missionaries didn’t respond to the ruffians as they expected. The Christians welcomed them warmly and engaged them in discussion. Surprised, the guys hung around long enough to hear the gospel. One trusted Jesus that day. The other, the next day.
Those two young men and the missionaries who reached them were light-years apart culturally. The guys were German; the missionaries, American. The guys were involved in a culture of darkness and death; the missionaries were shining the light. The cultural divide was crossed with cookies and nonjudgmental love.
Look at the people around you. How can you show those on the other side of the cultural fence unconditional, unquestioning love? How can you cross the divide and help them see that Jesus’ love knows no boundaries?
Cross the divide. Take Christ to the culture—even if it doesn’t look anything like yours.
To cross a cultural divide
Takes love that shows we really care;
And once the door is open wide,
Christ’s saving gospel we can share. —Sper
Our witness for Christ is a light for a world in darkness.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 15th, 2010
"What Is That to You?"
Peter . . . said to Jesus, ’But Lord, what about this man?’ Jesus said to him, ’. . . what is that to you? You follow Me’ —John 21:21-22
One of the hardest lessons to learn comes from our stubborn refusal to refrain from interfering in other people’s lives. It takes a long time to realize the danger of being an amateur providence, that is, interfering with God’s plan for others. You see someone suffering and say, “He will not suffer, and I will make sure that he doesn’t.” You put your hand right in front of God’s permissive will to stop it, and then God says, “What is that to you?” Is there stagnation in your spiritual life? Don’t allow it to continue, but get into God’s presence and find out the reason for it. You will possibly find it is because you have been interfering in the life of another— proposing things you had no right to propose, or advising when you had no right to advise. When you do have to give advice to another person, God will advise through you with the direct understanding of His Spirit. Your part is to maintain the right relationship with God so that His discernment can come through you continually for the purpose of blessing someone else.
Most of us live only within the level of consciousness— consciously serving and consciously devoted to God. This shows immaturity and the fact that we’re not yet living the real Christian life. Maturity is produced in the life of a child of God on the unconscious level, until we become so totally surrendered to God that we are not even aware of being used by Him. When we are consciously aware of being used as broken bread and poured-out wine, we have yet another level to reach— a level where all awareness of ourselves and of what God is doing through us is completely eliminated. A saint is never consciously a saint— a saint is consciously dependent on God.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Turn Around, Don't Drown - #6221
Monday, November 15, 2010
Where I've lived most of my life, the only place you drive over a body of water is on a big bridge; as in George Washington, Brooklyn, Triboro - big bridges. But there are parts of the country where you'll be driving along and you'll suddenly see a sign that says, "low water crossing." That means that when the water is low, you can cross. In drier times, you're good to go. But when you hear the words "flash flood warning" or you see water ponding in that crossover area, that's a good time to find another way to go. The warning the weather and traffic people give you goes like this: "Turn around, don't drown." Well, that's not just an idle warning. And not long ago, I saw the story of a driver who decided his van could make it through a crossing that had been covered by water after a heavy rain. The water was running deeper and faster than he realized. It tipped his van and began to carry it down this river that had suddenly been created. Several of his passengers were injured. For him, that crossing was his last stop on earth because he refused to heed the warning.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Turn Around, Don't Drown."
When there's been heavy rain in a low water crossing area, the media people give that warning often. And they should. It's based on so many tragic experiences where people didn't turn around and they drowned because they thought they could handle the road, and they ended up in deeper than they thought.
"Turn around, don't drown." That's pretty good moral advice, too. I've known way too many people who thought they could handle the temptation, handle being around some stuff that could bring them down, handle flirting with what they should have been fleeing. And they have suddenly found themselves in deeper than they ever imagined - way over their head. And morally, spiritually they've drowned.
God knows that someone who's listening today is going to drown if they don't turn around. So, I believe He's led me to pass on His warning today. Our word for today from the Word of God is a "turn around, don't drown" warning. 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 says: "If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!" See, there's a spiritual arrogance, or sometimes a spiritual carelessness, that usually precedes someone getting swept away. If you're flirting with some sin and you're thinking, "Hey, I can handle it," you are overestimating yourself and you are underestimating sin. You can't handle it. There are thousands of fallen saints who could stand up and tell you that's true.
The Bible goes on to say, "God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." For every sin-trap, there's another road you could take. But you have to choose the way out. It means not even getting close to the edge. Take the road that leads you away from that compromise of your integrity, away from that deception, away from that flirtatious relationship that could become adultery before you know it. Away from the website, the music, the movies you think you can handle, away from that spiritually dark stuff, away from the people whose company you keep but whose sin you think you can avoid.
The Bible doesn't say to fight with temptation. It says to flee temptation (2 Timothy 2:22 ). It may not look very deep. But, believe me, it has carried away people stronger than you. God knows where the road you're on is taking you. And He loves you. And you've heard His warning, "Turn around, my child. Don't drown." You still have time to turn around. You won't have time when the flood is carrying you where you thought you'd never go.
When you were in trouble, you called, and I saved you. I answered you with thunder. Psalm 81:7
God is as creative as he is relentless. The same hand that sent manna to Israel sent Uzzah to his death. The same hand that set the children free from Israel also sent them captive to Babylon. Both kind and stern. Tender and tough. Faithfully firm. Patiently urgent. Eagerly tolerant. Softly shouting. Gently thundering.
Job 42
Job
1 Then Job replied to the LORD:
2 “I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’
5 My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”
Epilogue
7 After the LORD had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.” 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the LORD told them; and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer.
10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. 11 All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the LORD had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.
12 The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. 15 Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.
16 After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17 And so Job died, an old man and full of years.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Mark 2:13-17
13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them.
14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.
15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.
16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the "sinners" and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"
17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Cross The Divide
November 15, 2010 — by Dave Branon
As [Jesus] was dining in Levi’s house, . . . many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus. —Mark 2:15
Two young men with mischief on their minds approached a missionary’s outreach bus parked in a downtown area of a German city.
The missionaries were there to offer refreshments as a way to open up conversations about Christ. The two visitors, wearing skull-and-crossbones bandannas, were there to offer trouble.
But the missionaries didn’t respond to the ruffians as they expected. The Christians welcomed them warmly and engaged them in discussion. Surprised, the guys hung around long enough to hear the gospel. One trusted Jesus that day. The other, the next day.
Those two young men and the missionaries who reached them were light-years apart culturally. The guys were German; the missionaries, American. The guys were involved in a culture of darkness and death; the missionaries were shining the light. The cultural divide was crossed with cookies and nonjudgmental love.
Look at the people around you. How can you show those on the other side of the cultural fence unconditional, unquestioning love? How can you cross the divide and help them see that Jesus’ love knows no boundaries?
Cross the divide. Take Christ to the culture—even if it doesn’t look anything like yours.
To cross a cultural divide
Takes love that shows we really care;
And once the door is open wide,
Christ’s saving gospel we can share. —Sper
Our witness for Christ is a light for a world in darkness.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 15th, 2010
"What Is That to You?"
Peter . . . said to Jesus, ’But Lord, what about this man?’ Jesus said to him, ’. . . what is that to you? You follow Me’ —John 21:21-22
One of the hardest lessons to learn comes from our stubborn refusal to refrain from interfering in other people’s lives. It takes a long time to realize the danger of being an amateur providence, that is, interfering with God’s plan for others. You see someone suffering and say, “He will not suffer, and I will make sure that he doesn’t.” You put your hand right in front of God’s permissive will to stop it, and then God says, “What is that to you?” Is there stagnation in your spiritual life? Don’t allow it to continue, but get into God’s presence and find out the reason for it. You will possibly find it is because you have been interfering in the life of another— proposing things you had no right to propose, or advising when you had no right to advise. When you do have to give advice to another person, God will advise through you with the direct understanding of His Spirit. Your part is to maintain the right relationship with God so that His discernment can come through you continually for the purpose of blessing someone else.
Most of us live only within the level of consciousness— consciously serving and consciously devoted to God. This shows immaturity and the fact that we’re not yet living the real Christian life. Maturity is produced in the life of a child of God on the unconscious level, until we become so totally surrendered to God that we are not even aware of being used by Him. When we are consciously aware of being used as broken bread and poured-out wine, we have yet another level to reach— a level where all awareness of ourselves and of what God is doing through us is completely eliminated. A saint is never consciously a saint— a saint is consciously dependent on God.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Turn Around, Don't Drown - #6221
Monday, November 15, 2010
Where I've lived most of my life, the only place you drive over a body of water is on a big bridge; as in George Washington, Brooklyn, Triboro - big bridges. But there are parts of the country where you'll be driving along and you'll suddenly see a sign that says, "low water crossing." That means that when the water is low, you can cross. In drier times, you're good to go. But when you hear the words "flash flood warning" or you see water ponding in that crossover area, that's a good time to find another way to go. The warning the weather and traffic people give you goes like this: "Turn around, don't drown." Well, that's not just an idle warning. And not long ago, I saw the story of a driver who decided his van could make it through a crossing that had been covered by water after a heavy rain. The water was running deeper and faster than he realized. It tipped his van and began to carry it down this river that had suddenly been created. Several of his passengers were injured. For him, that crossing was his last stop on earth because he refused to heed the warning.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Turn Around, Don't Drown."
When there's been heavy rain in a low water crossing area, the media people give that warning often. And they should. It's based on so many tragic experiences where people didn't turn around and they drowned because they thought they could handle the road, and they ended up in deeper than they thought.
"Turn around, don't drown." That's pretty good moral advice, too. I've known way too many people who thought they could handle the temptation, handle being around some stuff that could bring them down, handle flirting with what they should have been fleeing. And they have suddenly found themselves in deeper than they ever imagined - way over their head. And morally, spiritually they've drowned.
God knows that someone who's listening today is going to drown if they don't turn around. So, I believe He's led me to pass on His warning today. Our word for today from the Word of God is a "turn around, don't drown" warning. 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 says: "If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!" See, there's a spiritual arrogance, or sometimes a spiritual carelessness, that usually precedes someone getting swept away. If you're flirting with some sin and you're thinking, "Hey, I can handle it," you are overestimating yourself and you are underestimating sin. You can't handle it. There are thousands of fallen saints who could stand up and tell you that's true.
The Bible goes on to say, "God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." For every sin-trap, there's another road you could take. But you have to choose the way out. It means not even getting close to the edge. Take the road that leads you away from that compromise of your integrity, away from that deception, away from that flirtatious relationship that could become adultery before you know it. Away from the website, the music, the movies you think you can handle, away from that spiritually dark stuff, away from the people whose company you keep but whose sin you think you can avoid.
The Bible doesn't say to fight with temptation. It says to flee temptation (2 Timothy 2:22 ). It may not look very deep. But, believe me, it has carried away people stronger than you. God knows where the road you're on is taking you. And He loves you. And you've heard His warning, "Turn around, my child. Don't drown." You still have time to turn around. You won't have time when the flood is carrying you where you thought you'd never go.
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